The government’s human rights watchdog wants same-sex relationships and prostitution legalised.

This is amongst a raft of recommendations the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC) has proposed in a report that recommends how to safeguard sexual and reproductive health rights.

The report, launched on Thursday, is as a result of a public inquiry that had been set up by the commission to examine the extent and nature of violations of the two rights.

According to the report, the gay and lesbian community in the country, together with those practising commercial sex work, had complained that they were being discriminated against.

They blamed this on the denial of their existence by the society as well as laws that criminalised their activities.

“The government should therefore decriminalise same sex relationships ,” reads the report.

Sexual minorities

Ms Winfred Lichuma, a KNHRC commissioner who chaired the inquiry panel said the country also needed to address the issue of ‘sexual minorities’ as their numbers were fast increasing.

“We need to focus on sexual minorities and address their issues because their numbers are increasing fast and they are in our midst,” she said.

Prostitution and homosexuality are illegal under Kenyan law.

“They should also regulate voluntary sex work for men and women in order to make the practice safe for prostitutes and their clients,” the report went on to say.

Are Gays More Accepting Of Sex For Pay Than Straights? The Huffington Post Says “Yes”

The Advocate reports:

The Huffington Post and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation are having a public disagreement about gay men’s attitude toward “sugar daddies” as a solution for paying college bills.

Is the cost of higher education so punishing these days that some gay men are offering sex to daddies who can pay for tuition? TheHuffington Postreports that not only is that sad story line happening but also that this sort of sex-for-something deal is more accepted among gay people than straight. GLAAD disagrees vehemently, saying that notion is merely a stereotype being furthered by bad reporting. 

In a news release calling for an apology, GLAAD complained that the story is “riddled with stereotypes that the author presents as facts.”

After interviewing almost a dozen anonymous men who are selling sex for tuition, reporter Amanda Fairbanks came to a conclusion that strikes to the core of GLAAD’s disappointment.

“Unlike in the straight world, many say they find working as an escort on the gay scene to be an accepted, even applauded practice,” Fairbanks writes. “While none of the nearly dozen men interviewed had told their parents about their sugar daddies, nearly all had discussed them with their friends. And unlike the young women engaged in similar behavior who reported feeling great shame and remorse, the men generally seemed less traumatized by their decision. In fact, they often felt emboldened by the money they were able to earn, rather than shamed by the stigma.”

In the more than 3,600-word-long story, Fairbanks interviews the leaders of hookup sites and scholars who seem to back up the claim. And TheHuffington Post did not back away from the story when confronted. TheHuffington Post confirmed that the story was reviewed by multiple editors. And it absolutely supported findings by Fairbanks, who has been reporting on the debt load facing graduates amid a sluggish economy. Fairbanks had written previously about women who resorted to prostitution to pay for school. 

“Our coverage of students who sell themselves to manage their college debt has aimed to be sympathetic to their plight — not sensationalistic,” said Mario Ruiz, vice president of communications for AOL Huffington Post, in a statement. “But based on our reporting, we found that young women and young gays are part of communities that often view the matter differently. We found that for many gay men, the use of escort services and the exchange of money for sex appear to carry less of a stigma, according to extensive interviews with gay escorts and members of the gay community.”

For its part, GLAAD has launched a petition calling for TheHuffington Post to retract the story. It’s titled, “Tell Huffington Post to Stop Masquerading Anti-Gay Stereotypes as Journalism.” 

A GLAAD blog about the story claims that Fairbanks’s conclusion deserves to be debunked, not defended.

“These are the false stereotypes put forth by the staunchest opponents of marriage equality,” wrote Aaron McQuade, GLAAD’s deputy director of news and field media, in a blog post. “These are the false stereotypes that were used as rationalization for ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and they’re the false stereotypes that anti-gay activists used to fight against its repeal. These are the false stereotypes responsible for the bans on domestic partnership and civil union recognition. These are the false stereotypes put forth as reasons why gay and lesbian couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt children.”
Read the complete Huffington Post story, “Sex For Tuition: Gay Male College Students Using ‘Sugar Daddies’ To Pay Off Loan Debt”

INDIANA: Male Hooker Hiring Lawmaker Won’t Resign, Says “I’m Not Gay!”

(Via Joe.My.God.) 

GOP Indiana state Rep. Phil Hinkle says that he is TOTALLY not gay, despite having been busted after hiring an 18 year-old male hooker from Craiglist. And since he’s not gay, there’s NO reason for him to resign. Or something. Hinkle’s bosses in the state GOP have been pressuring him to quit. 

Is always fun to watch those Republicans fall. And sex is always the reason of their downfall. Why is that?